In 2000, leaders of more than 150 countries gathered together for an assembly at which they agreed to word toward a world in which everyone had an opportunity to achieve development and sustainable prosperity. The eight millennium goals are as follows:
Since the assembly, the UN has been monitoring the progress towards achieving these goals. For example, the first goal, eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. To help achieve this goal, the UN set a target for 2015 to cut in half the proportion of the world's people whose income is less than $1 a day.
What are the goals?
In 2000, over 150 countries and the United Nations came together to discuss a way in which global sustainable prosperity could be reached. From this meeting, the Millennium Development Goals, or the MDGs, materialized. Together, the leaders agreed to set eight attainable goals to be reached by 2015. These goals are as follows:
1. Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Predicting Problems
In addition to putting in place an action plan, the group attempted to predict some of the conflicts that might arise. Jeffrey D. Sachs, who helped the United Nations develop the MDGs, outlined some of the problems that may occur. In his book, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, he mentions the following: A)Decentralization- How money should be spent should be decided by people who live in the community B)Training- Training, at a national, district and village level, needs to teach people to run poverty-reduction programs C)Information Technologies- Computers, e-mail and mobile phones must be present for those involved so that communication levels can increase D)Measurable benchmarks- Specific goals must be set according to the national conditions, needs and availability of data E)Audits- Countries cannot be given money unless spending can be audited F)Monitoring and evaluation- Poverty-reduction programs must include budgets and plans
Examples
There are many different organizations and groups who are working towards completing these goals. Each of these groups serve a specific purpose and contribute in their own way:
1) The Canadian International Development Group is working towards eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by making nutrition better and increasing agricultural production and exports. http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-1317577-H7V
2) The Global AIDS alliance’s goal is to reduce AIDS globally by increasing foreign aid programs. http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/issues/end_poverty/
3) UNICEF plans to help with the Millennium Development Goals by increasing health care availability world-wide http://www.unicef.org/mdg/poverty.html
This video summarizes the Millenium Development Goals by exlaining each of the eight goals through the use of pictures. The quotes used are very powerful and force you to rethink the impotance of this agreement. Take the time to watch and reflect on this clip.
Millennium Development Goals
In 2000, leaders of more than 150 countries gathered together for an assembly at which they agreed to word toward a world in which everyone had an opportunity to achieve development and sustainable prosperity. The eight millennium goals are as follows:
Since the assembly, the UN has been monitoring the progress towards achieving these goals. For example, the first goal, eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. To help achieve this goal, the UN set a target for 2015 to cut in half the proportion of the world's people whose income is less than $1 a day.
What are the goals?
In 2000, over 150 countries and the United Nations came together to discuss a way in which global sustainable prosperity could be reached. From this meeting, the Millennium Development Goals, or the MDGs, materialized. Together, the leaders agreed to set eight attainable goals to be reached by 2015. These goals are as follows:
1. Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Predicting Problems
In addition to putting in place an action plan, the group attempted to predict some of the conflicts that might arise. Jeffrey D. Sachs, who helped the United Nations develop the MDGs, outlined some of the problems that may occur. In his book, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, he mentions the following:
A) Decentralization- How money should be spent should be decided by people who live in the community
B) Training- Training, at a national, district and village level, needs to teach people to run poverty-reduction programs
C) Information Technologies- Computers, e-mail and mobile phones must be present for those involved so that communication levels can increase
D) Measurable benchmarks- Specific goals must be set according to the national conditions, needs and availability of data
E) Audits- Countries cannot be given money unless spending can be audited
F) Monitoring and evaluation- Poverty-reduction programs must include budgets and plans
Examples
There are many different organizations and groups who are working towards completing these goals. Each of these groups serve a specific purpose and contribute in their own way:
1) The Canadian International Development Group is working towards eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by making nutrition better and increasing agricultural production and exports.
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-1317577-H7V
2) The Global AIDS alliance’s goal is to reduce AIDS globally by increasing foreign aid programs.
http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/issues/end_poverty/
3) UNICEF plans to help with the Millennium Development Goals by increasing health care availability world-wide
http://www.unicef.org/mdg/poverty.html
This video summarizes the Millenium Development Goals by exlaining each of the eight goals through the use of pictures. The quotes used are very powerful and force you to rethink the impotance of this agreement. Take the time to watch and reflect on this clip.